[open] For science! ... or something like that.

[itmeanstruth]

Between daily workouts in the holodeck, sparring sessions with Kaylin and teaching chakra classes, Minoru finally resumed his studies on everything snakelike. A handful of very patient ensigns helped him set up his own workstation in one of the astrobiology labs, taught him how to use the instruments and the computer, etc. His 'science' is crude at best, so a lab partner (especially someone who might actually know what they're doing) is always welcome!

[option A - cataloging]

Focusing a particular amount of chakra, pricking his finger and tracing a thin line of blood over the tribal tattoo on his wrist is all that Minoru has to do to summon a snake. He's going through his summons, one at a time, milking them, letting the computer analyze them and their venom. For him, it was a new way of thinking about things, but for the computer, it was one easy match after another. Until he'd summoned something the computer couldn't identify.

The snake is small and white, its scales giving off an almost crystalline appearance. He knows this snake well, remembers its fiery bite fondly and the Sage Mode transformation it produced. But no one here has ever made a record of it before.

Are you the curious sort? What could be learned from this?

[option B - new species]

For all the snakes he'd come in contact with, there were many entries listed for species he'd never worked with. Draxxan cloud vipers, arboreal needle snakes, fire snakes... the list went on and on! When you walk in, Minoru has a living specimen of some kind on the table - a dangerous one at that - and he's handling it without any kind of protection.

Do you dare approach? And if it bites, what will you do?

[Option C - crazy chemistry]

Minoru is used to testing things on himself, on mixing substance A with substance B and observing things with the naked eye. But now, the computer can break venom down to its component parts. It could even simulate what would happen if he mixed and combined those.

He wants to know if he can create a venom that heals tissue rather than destroys it, whether he can breed snakes that produce it, and whether he can use the same serum on himself to boost the healing abilities he can channel through his Sage Mode.

Can you help Minoru answer these questions? Are you there to celebrate a lucky breakthrough? Or are you simply a witness to something going horribly wrong?

Comments

[itmeanstruth]

"Water! Right, water..."

Minoru jumped and dashed to the nearest replicator. He got a big glass and carried it back as quickly as possible without spilling.

"Here. Take it easy... You used way too much chakra doing that."

[kaylinneya]

She took the glass with shaking arms and sipped, spilling more of it than she imbibed. She closed her eyes, fighting her pounding headache.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," she gasped when she game up for air.

[itmeanstruth]

"Your body's energy. Chakra. What you used to heal me with your hands!" He tried to explain. (There's a reason why his chakra classes don't get much attendance. It's because Minoru's not very good at teaching or explaining things.) "That's medical ninjutsu."

Magic. Jutsu. Same skills, different worlds, different names. Minoru was used to that by now.

"If you use too much, you can completely wipe yourself out. Or worse." He added. "If you let me, I can return the favor. Give a little bit back to you."

[kaylinneya]

Yeah. None of that made any sense to her. "I just need to rest." She was on the floor. That was close enough to a bed, right? She had slept on worse. She closed her eyes. She fished around in her pocket. Had to put on the bracer. If she lost that here and it went back to Elantra....

[itmeanstruth]

He'd never seen her so weakened, so exhausted. Not when she was injured. Not even after they really went at it.

While she fumbled in her pocket, Minoru was transforming back into Sage Mode. A white snake seemed to grow right out of his forearm, coiling and taking shape.

"Kaylin..." he nudged gently. If she didn't express such hatred of 'magic,' he probably wouldn't have thought twice. "Kaylin, you helped me. Can I help you?"

[kaylinneya]

"I just need sleep," she mumbled. She finally got the bracer out. Opening it was habit, and she slid it back on her wrist. She felt the cage close around her. A relief and a pain. She closed her eyes as it clicked.

Yes, the floor seemed perfect for a nap...

Taking a chance here. Wonder how it will affect her.

[itmeanstruth]

He watched her put the bracer on via autopilot, curious about what it was and what it did. She took it off to heal him... But why hide or inhibit medical ninjutsu?!

"Kaylin?" He couldn't leave her there, not like that...

"Sorry in advance, but this will make you feel better. It's my version of what you just did to me."

The snake growing out of his arm slithered to an open patch of skin, and it bit. Like any snakebite, it would feel like a pinprick, but Minoru's chakra was warm, full of vitality. He was literally returning what she spent with energy of his own. His chakra pool was massive, even within a clan known for having particularly powerful chakra. He had plenty to spare.

Going based on his saying that what she did felt like what he does

[kaylinneya]

The snake would bite her, and she would stir enough to swear in four languages. The energy however, wouldn't flow. It would be like trying to spray water at a perfectly smooth glass wall. It would just slide right off, finding no purchase.

[itmeanstruth]

That was one of the strangest things Minoru ever felt. His chakra flowed through the snake and then just... stopped. The snake let go, and it took him a moment to put the pieces together.

"That bracer..." Her taking it off did mean something. It blocked energy transfer. Or magic, as she put it. "Kaylin, take off the bracer again."

[kaylinneya]

She swore at him. Which did not actually mean she was awake. She spent part of her teenaged years with Marcus, most of it with the Hawks. Swearing was like bleeding, she could do either without apparent effort.

[itmeanstruth]

He tried to fumble with it, but couldn't figure out how she got it on, let alone how to get it off.

"Kaylin!" He shook her. "Kaylin, I can help you! How do you take off the bracer?!"

[kaylinneya]

She glared and pushed herself halfway up into a sort of sitting position. She glared. "Leave it," she snapped, it came out mumbled. She tried to shove to her feet. "I just need sleep. And water. Food after," she mumbled.

[itmeanstruth]

As long as they didn't deplete themselves to the point of death, anyone could recover from chakra exhaustion without help. It would just take time, and yes, food helped. Minoru had been in her place before, many times, with no one to do to him what he could do to others. Now, he could!

But she would have none of it.

Minoru eventually sighed, letting his Sage Mode recede. When she'd regained her strength, he'd have to ask her why she wore the bracer in the first place. But for now, he needed to get her someplace other than a lab room floor where she could rest.

"All right. You win." He laughed, crouching to pick her up off the floor.

[kaylinneya]

She growled and swore at him, but didn't fight. The fact that she couldn't might have had something to do with that. But it wasn't the first time someone had carried her when magic left her too weak to stand, and frankly she knew him a ***** of a lot better than she knew Nightshade the first time he did the same. Or The Lord of the Green. Oh ****s, there were reasons she hated making lists.

Andellen never carried her. He also didn't let her stop for a nap in the street. She tried not to hate him for that. And oddly... she didn't.

Great, even her thoughts were babbling. Gods, she needed sleep. She rested her head against him, and tried to close her eyes. She found that difficult, given they were already closed.

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru carried her back to his quarters, which was pretty much his roommate's glorified closet. Literally. Everything was filled with clothes and other fashion accessories. Cat wore each outfit only once, but refused to get rid of anything.

He'd taken over Minoru's sleeping area and the living area, but Minoru had hung a hammock over the couch. A small hop, and he was walking up the wall to safely put Kaylin in said hammock.

[kaylinneya]

She was too far gone to notice much of anything, Kaylin the Hawk. But there was a startled gasp like noise as she was placed in the hammock. She flailed, fingers catching the rope as she tried to figure out what she was on and why it was rocking....

It was almost cute how much like a startled child she looked, sleepily trying not to fall. That is, if it was safe to consider someone as lethal as she to be cute.

[itmeanstruth]

"You're okay. It's just my hammock." Minoru added in a comforting voice.

If her eyes opened, she'd probably see him squatting upside down on the ceiling, his chakra holding his feet there as securely as gravity would hold them to the floor. Granted, he didn't expect her eyes to open. She'd exhausted her energy quite thoroughly.

"You're safe here."

[kaylinneya]

"What the ****s is a hammock?" she asked, and no, she didn't open her eyes, though she did wonder why she was so disoriented that his voice seemed to be coming from above. Half dead, still a Hawk.

[itmeanstruth]

"A bed suspended by ropes. They're comfortable and easy to carry when you travel." he smiled. "Don't worry. You won't fall. I've swung from it and haven't pulled it off the ceiling yet."

[kaylinneya]

Worry? She was far too tired to worry. She thought she said something rude, but was unsure as sleep took her. Finally and fully.